T2B63

January 30th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Today was a school day, as if you don't already know, but it is the last day of the week.  Today started off with music, and once again, after I played my guitar, my thumb with black with some unknown dirtiness.  Apparently, since today was a Friday, we got to play a lot of songs.  That was much preferable than practicing our test pieces.  Anyways, I always have a good time in music, because as Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Without music, life would be a mistake" and also Langston Hughes once said,  “Life is for the living.  Death is for the dead.  Let life be like music.   And death a note unsaid.”.  

I was so scared that I had to do my book talk today in English.  It's not that I'm not prepared or anything, it's just that I feel like delaying it.  Basically I just don't want to do it.  Speaking front of people is really not my thing, even though I know I will have to a lot of public speaking later on in life.  But that's later, so....  

So for English we didn't have time to finish everyone's so I didn't do mine (yippy!).  Some peoples' were really good, such as Bobo's, Chole's and Emily's.  Well they were the only ones that made a memory on me, and they were just so confident and stuff.  Amie's so lucky; she's going last!

For math, we had a test that I forgot about.  It was on ratios and proportions.  The last few question were actually pretty hard and made a lot of people lose marks.  Luckily, even though I did mess up a bit, I got an A!  I was really happy, but one dude kept on speaking up during that test and that distracted me.  Even the teacher was mad at him.  

Applied skills!  I worked on my bee inquiry and I was just told by my friends that I needed to make a crow inquiry one too!  I think I have an idea of what I am going to do, so that isn't a big issue.  Near the end of class, some boys were playing Red Hands, a game which I think is pure stupidity.  So basically it rock-paper-scissors, but the winner gets to slap the loser's hand as hard as they want.  Peoples' hands were really red, hence the name Red Hands.  I think it's a dumb game with no meaning, and not even one bit fun.  How is hitting someone fun anyway?  (Unless they're your enemy!)

--Cyndi Forrest  

T2B62

January 29th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

I literally cannot wait for spring break to start, because school is kind of stressful...scratch "kind of"... I mean really stressful.  There's about a month before there's spring break, but time passes by quickly for me, so I'm super excited, but yet again stressed out about the projects that I have to do now.  The Vancouver School Board should really consider on giving breaks for six months, two times a year. (Yes, I stole that from Facebook, hehe)
Today started with PE.  Let me tell you that PE is not good in the morning, especially after a full breakfast.  I kind of got dizzy, so after PE class, I bought some "mildly sweetened" green tea from the vending machine.  Let me tell you that I don't think 22 grams of sugar in a 500 mL drink is considered "mildly sweetened".
I didn't eat my lunch today, due to a French test that I had to take. My teacher went away for 25-30 minutes to get something and left me bored and starving.  So basically it took up the whole lunch period and I don't think I was allowed to eat my lunch during the test.
Got to go do my homework!  BYE!

--Cyndi Forrest



 

T2B61

January 28th 2015,

Hi dudsons,

Today started off with music.  For some weird reason, my thumb gets really dirty after strumming the strings of the guitar, and yet it doesn't happen to happen to anyone else.  It's kind of irritating, and I have to use hand sanitizer to get it off.  Either someone before me who used my guitar has really dirty fingers, or I'm just imagining it.  Probably the first one.

Then it was English.  The Book Talks that we are doing in class is the things that is stressing me out this whole week and probably even before that.  After watching other peoples' talks, mine seems so dumb and simple.  Simple in the sense that it sucks compared to other people.  *Sigh* The struggles of life.

After lunch I had math.  And we just did math.

For applied skills, I thought of my bee inquiry--yay!  Now I just have to get to working on the presentation on it.

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B60

January 27th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

                                              

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B59

January 26th, 2015

Hi dudsons,

“Never memorize something that you can look up.” ― Albert Einstein

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B58

January 25th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

And today started off with swimming...  We have a new teacher and surprisingly, she's only 16.  I've been thinking of getting a job when I'm 16, just to earn some pocket cash, and of course, I'll offer to split some of it to my parents.  It's not just from the money perspective (because there are no good money-earning jobs out there for teenagers), but I don't know it just seems fun.  Anyways, I had swimming lessons once again this week.  It's a tradition too that afterwards me and my friend Jan go to the hot tub to talk and chill out and then we go take a shower.  

I watched Thor: The Dark World today and it was good, but it wasn't as good as the first one.  It was just lacking in...excitement?  I don't know.  But all in all, it was a good movie and I can't wait for the third sequel which comes out in 2017.  Hey, I'll be 16 by then!  Who knows, I might be doing a part-time job then!  

I have no idea how I am going to live during this stressful and tedious point in school.  I have a science fair project due and I have to do a mini-speech on this book I'm reading, which I will have to create a visual and a mini paragraph for it.  Ugh.  I despise my teacher for moving the due date two days back.  I mean, in two days, a lot of work can be done!  And then I have a piano exam on Tuesday too, and I have to practice lots.  I have piano class tomorrow too, and that takes up about an hour.  No words can describe my hatred towards these two projects + my piano exam.

School tomorrow!  See you in tomorrow's blog, peeps!

--Cyndi Forrest 

T2B57

January 24th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napoleon Hill

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B56

January 23rd, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Today's the last day of eval week, and there were some aspects that I liked, and some that were simply rubbish to me.  Well for instance, I must admit that I quite enjoyed my three hours of math, since my teacher made it an enjoyable time.  The hour-long lunches were a plus too!On the contrary, I didn't really like English because I had to write that in-class essay, which wasn't hard, but just simply a nuisance.  Also, my teacher reminded us about the Book Talks we had to do and she moved the date to the 28th.  Sorry, but I have a busy schedule and that "sure doesn't add another pile of stress on me".

Today we worked on our hydraulic lifts in class and it was pretty fun.  Even though my group wasn't the most visually appealing, it at least lifted up 500 grams of weight.  I think that we did pretty good, but there were some groups that made impressive designs as well.

Three hours of PE, was actually not that bad.  We didn't do any gymnastics, which was so pleasing to hear from my teacher, I was basically dancing in my mind.  We played two rounds of skittles, line tag, mushroom dodgeball, and handball.  And then we got a lot of rest time too---approximately 35 minutes worth!

All in all it was definitely a different experience, and I wouldn't mind enduring eval week next year.

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B55

January 22nd, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Ugh, my computer is lagging today, and it's the first time it happened. :(  On a "happier" note, we had an in-class essay today for English.....scary!  There were two topics we could choose from (the topics may not be as directly like this though) :

1. Is social media beneficial or harmful to teenagers? 

2. What does Ghandi's quote: "Be the change you wish to see in the world" mean to you?  

Of course I chose the first one, because that topic seems much more easier and simple than the one below.  I also had a ton of ideas for the first one and zilch for the second one, heehee.  I hope that I don't fail this essay, since I believe I write better with a laptop and with more TIME.  Actually, this essay is surprisingly only worth five percent of our marks, so I'm not that stressed out about this essay.  I think I did okay....  

Once again, we had a one hour today, so that was pretty cool.  Also cool because I wasted 15 minutes of my life buying a bubble tea and waiting for Amy to buy her lunch.  So that works out to be 45 minutes left, the normal time we usually get for lunch.  I like the mango bubble tea with pearls, although the addition of ice makes it taste a little watery and not as, how do you say it.... creamy.  

Another three hours of music came soon after.  The time went by fast, and didn't feel like the three hours that spent in English, which felt like time went by slowwwly.  I think it was mostly because we learned five new songs today, including Shake it off by Taylor Swift, Counting Stars by One Republic, Complicated by Ed Sheeran, Home by Phillip Phillips, and lastly, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran. We also watched a little bit of a documentary concerning three amazing guitarists.  We also did a test too, and I think I did well, except for the fact that my partner messed up a little.  Only a little, so eh, that didn't really matter, I think.  

--Cyndi Forrest  

T2B54

January 21st, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Today was my official start to my journey of eval week.  Around three hours of French, and three hours of socials + one whole hour of lunch!

So French.  Ugh, two people vandalized the textbooks and my teacher scolded all the students, well kind of.  So from now on, my French teacher created a new system, and we get assigned our own textbooks to share with three other people from the other classes.  So if one of us messes up, all of us are in trouble :( so sad.  Anyways, today was a mediocre day at French; we just reviewed the whole chapter with writing, listening and orale practices.  My hand was kind of tired too after all that writing.  I think French is the only class so far that I am required to write a lot.  We got back a homework that we handed in about a month ago, and I got a good mark!  ...We have a test next week on the chapter, and hopefully I will do at least okay.

For lunch, my mom brought me some food because she disn't have enough time to cook it in he morning.  I decided to stay with her, since all my friends were busy, with basketball meetings and whatnot.   It turns out that some people smoke because I see them in alley ways; is it not illegal?  Shame on them.  Luckily, I was in the car eating my delicious lunch, safely located away from them.

I came back just in time for socials.  Apparently, we were doing quote from my teacher " intensive assessments -mwa-ha-ha".  I didn't know what to expect, because honestly, that sounds really scary.  It turns out that it was just a little group assignment thing that wasn't that hard to do.  That sure relieved my heart. We learned a lot about Judaism and each group had to focus on one particular topic.  My group did the information on the origins of Judaism.  Then we had to separate into another groups and convey the information we learned to others.  After this was all done, we watched an episode of the Twilight Zone.  This episode wasn't that scary, but I did feel deep sympathy for the protagonist.

                                                
--Cyndi Forrest

T2B53

January 20th, 2015

Hello dudsons,

Today, I woke up at approximately 6:20 in the morning and that's pretty early, or at least for me.  My dad drove Amie, Anson, and me to Metrowtown for the 3D-printing workshop at the Microsoft store and fortunately there was not much traffic since we took the marine drive route. I feel bad for Sabrina though, because she got stuck in traffic and arrived just as we ended, haha.  Anyways, in the workshop, we learned about some facts about 3D printing.  It turns out that the concept behind this had already begun in the 1980s, but it was just not really popular.  We also saw some videos too and saw a live demonstration of the 3D-printing.  Unfortunately, I was so tired throughout the whole workshop, that I kept on yawning and my eyes were striving to open; however, I regained my strength later in the day.  3D-printing was really cool though.

This is the 3D-printer that we saw

                                             

I went shopping a little after the workshop, and I only bought a white tank top, because I outgrew my old white ones.  The mall is so quiet without other people crowding up the mall, that it's like a deserted desert.  

Eval week starts today and basically we get double blocks of each class.  In my case, I got double blocks of math, which isn't that bad, considering that math isn't really boring.  We had a test, but I got 100%, hehe.  We learned about ratios and proportions, and then we played a long game of Brain Drain.  It was so fun, but my team was in forth place.  It was still really fun, other than the immense time wasted by people blabbering useless things.

Tomorrow I have double blocks of French and Socials, and I'd like to see how that goes.   

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B52

December 19th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Today I went to Anson's house for the socials project on Shinto.  I think we made considerable progress, but not great progress.  We made a presentation, though it is not finished yet, and we started a little on the brochure that was we were required to do.  We have to make a 12-15 minute presentation, and that's a pretty long time to stand up in front of a crowd.  My mom bought us McDonalds too, hehe.  I think the presentation is going to be good.

I had piano class after that and I'm taking the test next week on the 27th!  I better get to practicing more......

Tomorrow I have to wake up real early for a field trip to Metrotown.  So I have to sleep early now!

I realize that my blogs are getting shorter and shorter...

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B51

January 18th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

So yesterday I went to a restaurant called Grand Palace in Coquitlam with my grandparents, since they live near there.  We had lots of yummy food, like lobster, beef, soup and other stuff.

Before that I went to Chinese school and it was the last day of term.  I got two certificates, including one for the special ones you get if you're one of the top students, hehe.

For today, I basically went to swimming lessons and that was pretty much it....

Since I'm going to be doing a presentation on the Shinto religion, here are some quick facts:

1. The sun goddess Amaterasu is the most important 'kami;..... and was born out of her father's left eye. O_O

2. You will often find origami around a Shinto shrine. 

3. Shinto has no founder or single sacred sculpture, unlike other religions.

4. The closest shrine  from Vancouver is located in Granite Falls, Washington, USA.

5. There are 8 million kami.  Kami is the Japanese word for God, deity, divinity, or spirit.

--Cynid Forrest

T2B50

January 17th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

I just got back from my grandparents' house and it's late. (11:30 pm)  Details on today will be in tomorrow's blog!

Sorry!

                                                

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B49

January 16th, 2015

Hi dudsons,

Today is Friday!  Monday's a Pro-D day, so that makes it a long weekend.....yay!  I think I'm going to Anson's house with Bobo for the socials project; I hope we do actual work, because most work-at-someone-else's-house projects usually end up in not having actual progress and goofing off.

Today started off with applied skills.  It turned out that our mason bee house only have to be the size of a fist, contrary to what I expected, which is like a big Costco box sized house.  I'm planning to use a can and then use scrap paper to make the little holes for the bees to live in.  I'll probably use some string to hold it all up.

Nothing happened much in math....today.

Now ENGLISH.  We are going to write an in-class essay on a topic that we know on that day.  I'm nervous, because I usually like to have some time to think and mull over what I'm going to write and revise it a couple of times.  I don't think I can do it in a sixty-minute period.  Impossible.  And we're getting marked on it.   Anyways, we have another project called Book Talks.  We have to give a three to five minute speech on a book that we've chosen.

I missed about 20 minutes of English and the whole block of music because I had an orthodontist appointment.  I'm getting new brackets and they tightened the braces for me.  To be honest, it hurt even more than when I first got braces.  It kind of hurts when I bite, but it still isn't horribly painful.  I got this lavender color this time for the elastic part of my braces, and now I'm contemplating on what color I'll get next time.

--Cyndi Forrest  

T2B48

January 15th, 2015

Hello dudsons,

In one of past blogs, I said that I will try to sleep earlier as a new years resolution.  Well, this resolution did not succeed.  I still sleep at around eleven or ten, though I've heard many people that sleep much later than that.   It's not my fault there's homework to be done.....

I had socials today and we finally got into our groups to work on a religion project.  My group includes Bobo, Anson, and moi and we're studying the Shinto religion.  The story behind this religion is so disturbing, that I cannot tell you peeps about it.  It has some PG 13 content in there.  Anyways, I can't wait to learn more about this religion, because I've never actually knew what it was about before.

We had a student recognition assembly for "the honor roll and principal's list people"today in the 1-1 block for Grade 8's.  Only fifteen people in the whole grade got Principal's List, but a lot of people got Honor Roll.  Plus, we got chocolate chip cookies and a juice box. :)  The whole thing took about ten minutes or so, but I was really hoping that it would take the whole block since in science, we have a test on pressure.

So science.  We had a test and it underestimated me, because it was something that we never learned, I guess. The last question was kind of tricky, and many people got different answers.  Luckily, we got back our matter concept maps and I got 20/20, so that was pretty good.  It wasn't that long after the test that the bell rang for me to go to PE!

I give up on PE.  I cannot do a majority of the things (eg cartwheels, front rolls) because my back and my bones are so inflexible (or at least that's my theory).  I am sad.

                                                              
--Cyndi Forrest  

T2B47

January 14th, 2015

Hello dudsons,

Today was yet another school day.

First class was applied skills!  We finished watching two documentaries on bees and I believe that now we are going to do a presentation on an each one of our inquiries in bees, as well as creating a mason bee home.  I'm not so sure about the last part, because I'm kind of scared of bees, and basically any type of insect.  I hope that it all works out though, and that perhaps I'll be less scared of bees at the end of this project.

English.  I was so mad at myself today >:(.  I accidentally took Amy's papers for English, because I have a bad habit of taking anything that's on or near my desk.  I didn't know until applied skills today, when I was checking to see if I did have the papers. And plus, those papers were study guides for the test!  So, basically I have to start inspecting what I take from the desk and see if it's mine from now on.  I guess I'll make that a New Years resolution.

For music, we played a lot of different songs today, such as "Home" by Michael Buble and "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.  We also had a test today!  It was sort of like a partner duo thing that I did with my friend Jessy.  Luckily, the teacher said we got an A.

Apparently, we can volunteer at the Synergy test tomorrow, but I'm still debating with myself on whether or not I should go.  My brother's going to be there and I don't want to distract him.  Plus, I have to practice piano and work in some homework.  So I don't know whether or not to volunteer....

Update on the Metrotown field trip!  We have to be there at 8:30 am, in the morning!  *GASP* That's really early.  Let me calculate this..... I have to wake up at 7 or earlier!  Wow, but hey at least we get to go shopping afterwards.  I need to buy a new tank top anyways.  Hopefully, my dad will drive me since I find buses a scary place to be :P.

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B46

January 13th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Short blog today  because my parents are "threatening" me to go upstairs to go to sleep.

Quick recap of the day: French, Social Studies, Science and Physical Education.

Something interesting about today:  Nothing much, but we are starting two new projects in Social Studies and Science.

Anyways, bye!

Cindy Cheong 2-3

T2B45

January 12th, 2015

Hey dudsons!

School today!

In applied skills, we watched some films on bees.  There were parts on beekeeping too, and it was so sad to know that many bees die in the process of commercial beekeeping.  I can't believe that beekeepers are not scared of all the bees crawling over their bodies.  If it was me in that position, I would have started screaming and guffawing.  Anyways, without bees, there would be no humans, since bees pollinate a lot of the food that we eat.  Even though I despise bees, I do have to appreciate for what they've done for us.

In English, we're studying comics. Cool, because many people object that comics are not considered real literature.  We're learned many comic terminology, like 'gutter', which means the space between each comic panel.  I enjoy and prefer this topic of comics much more than boring ole essay writing...

I have to get ready for school now, so....BYE!

                                   

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B44

January 11th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

I didn't go to swimming lessons :(, but that was because I had to work on some homework.  I finally did my second time for my science project, and it went pretty well, but some of the foamy started foaming out of the bottle, making it smell really bad.  Now, all I need to do is find time to do the third time.....

I went to my best friend's house for her pre-birthday dinner tonight.  (her actual birthday is tomorrow) I didn't go to Metrotown with her since I was so busy, so I guess I missed out on all the fun.  I never knew that Sephora gave out free lipsticks if it's your birthday and if you're a card member.  Maybe I should sign up, although I do not use make-up.  I'll just probably give it to my mom.  Anyways, I gave my friend this sweatshirt that I also have, and i really hope she likes it.  At her house, they were kind of singing karaoke on the iPad, but I was too shy to sing.  I prefer singing in the shower than singing in public.  We had dinner, and we had pizza, pasta, sushi, and other yummy things too.  We played this 10 finger after dinner, and it was the first time I played, but it was so fun. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's an awesome game to get social with your friends, instead of all peering down at their phones.   I left at around nine, and here I am blogging at ten-fifteen.

Happy Birthday Jan!

The weekend has passed by so fast.  Time to go back to school.   I wish that the school board would make weekends seven days long.  Yeah, that would be awesome.  I'd have so much time for homework and whatnot.

Oh yeah, for my applied skills class, we are going to a field trip to Metrotown for a 3D-printer demonstration.  I think I'll find this interesting, and I think we are allowed to go shopping afterwards! But....I have a piano test after that I think, so that's sad.  I'm skipping a whole two blocks of math, which is a subject I don't really hate,  Anyways, we have to transport ourselves to Metrotown and back.  That's quite scary, because that's a long distance away.  I hope that my mom or dad is willing to drive me there, because being on buses can be quite scary....especially for little girls like me...

--Cindy Forrest

T2B43

January 10th, 2014

Hi dudsons,

Well, I finished the movie Thor today and oh my god, it's so good.  Actually I say all movies are good, being the bad movie critic I am, but this one was really good.  The story plot line is well developed, but the ending was quite sad.  Thor had to sacrifice his one true love from Earth to help his own planet.  BUT I know that they will reunite again in the next movie, so that's all good.

Today I went to Chinese school and we had a mid-term exam. O_O  It wasn't hard, but was also not that easy, since my teacher put in words that we didn't understand.  I mean who does that?  I hope that I get a good mark so that I can earn another scholarship award this year (I get a bonus fifty bucks from that!)

Apparently I wrote a good essay and mine got featured in the school newspaper.  BUT, instead of writing PIKE PLACE, they wrote PITE Place.  I was so mad, I mean my writing is not that horrid, so how did they read it wrong?  Oh well, I hope nobody notices.

I had dinner at a Shanghai-nese restaurant in Richmond today.  The flavors were too rich, so the food wasn't comfortable on our throats.  I really liked the stir-fry bean sprouts though, because they were so yummy.

After that we went to PriceSmart, which is a supermarket.  We didn't buy much things, so we went to Superstore afterwards.  We bought some stuff and that was basically the end of the day :).

It's my best friend Janice's b-day tomorrow, so I will be going to her house.  Unfortunately, I have to catch up on the science fair project, so I can't go to Metrotown with her.  But at least I'm going to her house for dinner.  Her mom makes good food. :P

I have a sweatshirt with that on it, haha ;)

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B42

January 9th, 2015

Hi dudsons,

There's not much to say about today, so here's an entertaining video (s).

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B41

January 7th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Well today was the Bulldog Classic!  It's a basketball game at my school that took up the whole afternoon.  My PE teacher actually kind of black mailed us to go to this event, because if we don't go, he says that we have to run six laps around the track.  In the cold.  In shorts and t-shirts.  That's inhumane and cruel.  That's why I bought a ticket.  Luckily tickets were not expensive, just a mere two dollars and you can easily buy them from a senior basketball person.  I'm not actually in to basketball that much, but it was kind of amusing to watch other people having awesome basketball skills, while I have none.  Churchill won for both senior girls and boys too, so that was pretty cool.

I had French and Socials in the morning.  We finished up our Great Canadian Geography Challenge in socials, and this last part was by far harder than last class'.  After summing up the grand totals, Matthew still had the highest mark, so he is our representative for the Synergy Grade 8 class to participate against other classes in the school.  I might even go watch at lunch time, because this seems interesting.

Short blog, today because I need to go to sleep earlier!

--Cyndi Forrest

                                           

T2B40

January 6th, 2015

Hey dudsons,

I was so tired today, I felt like my eyes would close and go into a deep sleep during school time.  This morning I was so tired, that once I was all dressed up, I crawled back into bed, and slept for a measly ten minutes.  It wasn't much time for a full-on hibernation sleep, but I bet that it helped a little to prevent me from collapsing into sleep mode.  I don't think I slept that late yesterday, probably eleven... OKAY that is kind of late.  So I guess my mini new years resolution is to get enough sleep, so I have enough energy (to wake up) for the next day. :)
                                       
Nothing happened at school that was really worth mentioning, unless you guys want a really boring description of what I did today.  The day started with French, then to math, then lunch, then english, then music.  That was just a mini list of what I did today at school.

Actually we're starting a manga series in English today, and it's called Death Note.  This is my first Japanese styled book, and at first the concept of reading back to front was very confusing for me, but eventually I got the hang of it.  I also find the plot very interesting and mysterious, which entices the reader to read more.  I can't wait until the ending, and I might even continue to read the sequels.

I have to do homework now!  Bye peeps!

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B39

                                                   

January 5th, 2015

Hello fellow dudson readers!

It's finally back: school.  All the parents are probably gonna be like  "yay, it's 'me' time again!".  I admit, with kids at home, it can definitely stress adults out, as we fight, complain, and yell for unstated reasons.  But, we have to wake up so early, and by the time we kids come home, we're practically like zombies craving for sleep, food, and electronics.  Well, at least that's what happens for me.  Anyways, the last blog was me talking about how irritating it can be when I write 2014 instead of 2015.  Well, I did it lots of times during school today, and although I try to make myself stop, my brain just keeps my hand writing 2014.  AND guess what?  I didn't  bring my white-out to school, so it ends being quite a disastrous mess.

                                  

I heard a lot of "haven't seen you since last year" jokes today.  I said one too to my friend, but I don't think she had quite a reaction.  Anyways, today started at French.  The room was kind of cold, even though I did wear a pretty thick sweatshirt.  We had to write down some notes, but I guess my hand was lazy all winter break since there was no school, so my hand started hurting because I wasn't use to this much writing.  Honestly, there was not a lot of things to copy, but my hand wasn't used to anything, so...

We had a mini canadian geography test in socials today.  Honestly, I didn't expect I'd get a really high mark, and my expectations kind of fit in with what I got.  I got 23/54 so far, which is a decent score compared to some people in the class.  The highest mark was 31 by Matthew, and geez that's a really high mark.  That's impressive, especially when he's younger by one year compared to the majority of he class.

Ugh.  We're starting gymnastics in PE, and let me tell you that is not fun.  I am not at all a flexible person at all, so I am betting that I will flunk this term, even though this term will count for 40% of the final grade for the year.  We did  some frog stands, and teddy bear stands, but I didn't really do one.  I hope my teacher will go easy on this term...

-- Cyndi Forrest

T2B38

January 3rd, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Oh man, I did it again.  I almost wrote December instead of January for the date of this blog.  AND I just realized I wrote 2014 again instead of 2015.  I hope I don't do it for school, or you know teachers can pick on me.  AND WHO KNOWS, maybe they'll fail me for the term!  I know I know, I'm exaggerating, but I still hope that I will get rid of this incredibly bad habit.  It's the new year, for god's sake, and it's the time to forget about last year....except for all the good memories, hee hee.  

You see, pretty much yearly, the parents and the kids have this huge get-together thing(s), whether it be a potluck (it usually is), a picnic, biking, or whatever.  The point is, that we had one today and it was a really fun time.  There were some new people too, but there were the classic ones that included me that met from Kindergarten.  All the kids played Dodgeball first, but the game was so silent, even though there were some athletic people there.    Then it was capture the flag, and the action kind of rised.  It was really fun.  

We had the potluck after and there was a lot of food.  My mom made sticky rice and I made brownies, but it kind of failed.  The first time was so much better.  And plus the oven was not cooperating with me.  I couldn't really eat because I have braces, but the food was good.  There was this Chloe girl though, ugh.  Since she doesn't read my blog I will say this.  She kept on hoarding the food.  According to my brother, she ate more than Nikita, and he's a boy that eats a lot.  Even my mom said "can you please share some with others", and she was so stubborn that she returned for another plate of food.  Wow, who does that?  

I guess I'll share one photo I found that was good on the phone that was my mom's (but now mine!) 

                                                        

That's all folks and I will not tell you peeps who is who.  Let it remain a secret.....

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B37

January 2nd, 2015

Hey dudsons,

Oops!  I almost wrote December instead of January... it's funny how fast the new year can spring up on me.  By the way, I have no plans of having a new years resolution, mostly because nobody in my family does.  I bet they did at one point, but gave up on perhaps.  I'm still little, I'll worry about dieting later on in life.  

I was looking at my phone and I was looking through pictures of all the good times I had with my friends and family.  I can't believe that a year or two have passed since these photos were taken. I wish there was some sort of time machine that could zap me back in time, although I suppose it may create a butterfly effect and eventually turn the whole world up-side down.  Those days were awesome, mostly because there was less homework, more time for play, and not needing to wake up at seven for school.  For privacy issues, I will not be posting the photos, because I do not want to expose my friend's and my face to the whole world.

Anyways, I went shopping at Richmond Centre with my friends Sam, Jan, Mimi, Ali, and Ranch.  These are obviously not their real names, but whatever.  It was quite sudden because I only knew about this matter just yesterday night.  I was going to do homework, but I guess I'll do it tomorrow or something.  We went to Lansdowne Centre first, because there was a Target there. I honestly don't like Target that much, but my friends like it, so I'm not one to protest and oppose to what I don't what to do.  And of course they were looking in the beauty section, which I have not much interest in.  When you're young, you don't need makeup to make yourself pretty, you already have youth and natural beauty to do that for you.  So I have no idea why they like those stuff, but at least my friends Sam, Ranch, and Mimi didn't care too.  I didn't buy anything at Target, since I don't like that store, but Sam (she love League of Legends) bought some gift card for it and Ranch bought some hair gel.  They bought Starbucks too, but I was not in the mood for it.

Jan's mom drove us to Richmond Centre when we were done buying food at a Chinese snack store.  I bought Shrimp Crackers, and even though they're pretty salty, they're irresistable ;).  I didn't buy anything because we only went to a few stores and there was nothing good.  We only went into one clothing store, and I really wanted to go into more.
We went to the food court to do the Bean Boozled challenge.  For those who don't know, it's a challenge in which there are two same colour jelly beans, but one tastes like poop and one tastes good.  I had some good ones and a few bad ones.  I remember that the lawn clippings and canned dog food was so gross and the flavor was indescribable.  It was horrible.  Luckily, I bought some ice-cream to help get the yucky flavour out. I ended up not finishing the ice-cream and throwing it away, haha (even though it was so good).  It was a great shopping trip.

The jelly bean flavors..Perhaps now you know what I'm talking about?

                                                   
My friend Jan gave me a second Xmas gift and I opened it at home.  It was an adorable yellow coloured sweater and I really love it.  Thank you if you're reading this!  I love it like I love chocolate ice cream.

--Cyndi Forrest
    
  

T2B36

January 1st, 2015

Hey dudsons,

First off, Happy New Year!  12 Months happiness, 52 weeks fun, 365 Days laughter, 8760 hrs good luck, 525600 Minutes joy, 31536000 seconds success, so wishing you a happy new year!  And yeah, I stole that from the internet.  

To start off this year, I went to Metrotown with my Synergy buddies, Amie and Carina.  I was surprised that they were open, considering today was a holiday, and even then they were open until seven  in the evening.  We met up at Pet Habitat, a pet shop situated next to the Bay.   It's such a sad sight to see them caged up, surrounded by their stinky pee and poop.  Plus, the pet shop always smells weird, so it wasn't long before we got out.  We went to many stores, but we didn't buy anything.  I bought stuff from the US, so I didn't want to buy much.  We all wanted matching tops so we can look funny when we come back to school, but we didn't find anything that we all liked.  

We went to the Starbucks in Chapters and we all bough Grande-sized hot chocolates.  Starbucks has the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted, even better than ones from expensive coffee shops.  I love scooping up the whip cream and just eating it.  Speaking of which, I have an intense craving for right now.  When we finished adding condiments like chocolate and vanilla powder onto our hot chocolates, we walked out of Chapters, just like any other normal person would do.  

Here's the scary part, and I remember it kind of clearly.  We were all just walking together near the Justice clothing shop, when suddenly a creepy foul-looking man, looking crazy was staring directly at my cup of hot chocolate and walking quite fast I must say towards it.  His arm was stretched out, as if he was trying to get the cup of hot chocolate.  His eyes were at the cup the whole time.  I walked away, and I had a feeling of deep apprehension.  Amy saw too and hid behind Carina.  We were so scared, but Carina was clueless and didn't see a single thing.  Maybe he hypnotized her.  

Here's Amy's thoughts on that topic: 

"We started walking around the mall to see where we would go next. Suddenly, a random guy appeared in front of us and he looked hypnotized. He was looking at Cyndi's cup of chocolate like it was the first drink he's seen in 10 years. His arms were outstretched and it looked like he wanted to seize her drink. I saw him, but for some reason, I couldn't warn Cyndi. Cyndi noticed when he got close and she ran to the side. I was also very scared even though he was aiming for me and I stepped behind Caryna so that she was in front of me. The amusing thing was that Caryna didn't even notice him and she ended up asking us what happened. "

Anyways, went to the food court to eat and I ordered a Thai beef noodle soup.  It was pretty good, considering it was fast food.  Amy ordered from the same place with a wonton and BBQ pork noodle soup.  Carina ordered a Subway, which looked pretty good.  We went to Sephora after that, and messed around with applying nail polish on our fingers.  I didn't do much though, but Carina painted all her nails!

My parents took me and my brother to Crystal Mall.  Here again, where I remember fond memories there when I was little.  Before we went to buy things, we stopped by at the food court to eat, yet another snack.  We got chicken udon, dynamite sushi roll, chicken and mushroom rice, and pan fried rice noodles.  Yummy asian food in an Asian food court in an Asian mall.  LOL.  I was pretty full after that, considering I had eaten the noodle from Metrotown only a few hours before.  We went to buy things at the grocery stores they have at Crystal Mall, and bought some groceries.  There were a lot of people hustling around, but that's because the produce was cheap and fresh.  

We also went to shop for groceries at a little Indian-owned shop on our way back.  Shop local!  That's how you keep a growing city growing.  

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B35

December 31st, 2014

Hey dudsons!

It (was) New Year's Eve.... and I spent most of that day in the US.....where I couldn't have free wifi to write this blog :(.  Anyways, here it is now, and I hope that you peeps had an awesome one with all your family and friends.  I realize that this will probably be the last time I'll write, so come back next year!

I woke up at around six-thirty for breakfast.  That, again, is very early.  I had a nightmare during the night, so I still got creeped out during breakfast.  I think the delicious egg omelette woke me up completely.  I chose bacon, cheese, mushroom, and tomato: AKA the perfect ingredients for an omelette.

We went to Seattle Premium Outlet Mall and arrived there at around nine.  The stores were open when we got there, so we didn't have to wait.  I think this was the first time we spent so much for shopping since we bought around a thousand dollars worth of merchandise, haha.  I was hoping that once again I would see Judy and her family from ItsJudysLife since they live around there, but my hopes were eradicated since I didn't see her.  Oh well, there's always next time.  We bought things at Michael Kors, Abercrombie and Fitch, Sketchers, Columbia and other places as well.

After six hours of shopping, we dropped by the Tulalip Casino to eat at the buffet.  I wouldn't say this is the best buffet, but it wouldn't be the worst either.  I just wished that they built a wall in the middle of it and the casino, because the buffet area smells a little smoky due to the many smokers gambling.  It was an all day brunch today, so there was breakfast items.  Ain't nobody wanna eat that!  I sure wouldn't.  So that eliminated a lot of food choices, and there was not much too eat, since the breakfast items took over.  They charged much more for the all day brunch than just regular ole lunch too, so I'd much more rather eat plain lunch.  I know that the food there is good, but breakfast for late lunch and dinner?  Really?  No thank you.  Usually I like the Mongolian Grill they have their, but I think something was wrong with the chef, because he seemed crazy.  He burnt my noodles.  My parents and my brother though were lucky, because their noodles were cooked when they switched the chefs. Overall, I'd much more prefer their regular setup than yesterday's.

On the road, a bright sunny day

                                                         
We separated from Michelle's family, and went to Costco.  I always thought this Costco next to the outlet mall was small and had nothing good, but when I went today, I think it was much better.  There was a lot more things that were sold at the really big Costco's.  I bought a swimsuit and a pair of gloves, since I lost mine last year, being the forgetful person I was and still am.  We bought groceries and of course when you go to Costco, milk and eggs.

We went straight to Bellingham and went to Fred Meyer.  I honestly prefer this supermarket over others in the US because it has everything, from clothes to shampoo to bedding to food.  It's basically like a US Superstore, but even better.  Or like my family likes to say it, Stupidstore, haha.

Anyways, we went home after that!

What a great way to end this year before next year...

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B34

December 30th, 2014

Hey there dudsons,

Well I was away for the holidays on this day (Dec. 30th, 2014) at Seattle, USA.  It was exasperating at the beginning of the day, due to the fact that I had to wake up at 6 AM IN THE MORNING! That's pretty early for me, since I usually wake up at like ten or nine or sometimes without my alarm clock, eleven.  (OOPS)  My family and I went with my friend Michelle's family, and we went to Portland earlier this year too with each others' family.
We arrived at the border at around seven or eight, I'm not quite sure.  Luckily, there was not a particularly long wait, but this time I refrained myself from using any electronic devices during the wait, since I was too lazy to get it from the bag or from my mom.  I like watching other people in other lanes.  #Creep OMG, there was this one time when I was observing a couple and I assumed that the man farted because the woman was waving her hands and covering her nose, while laughing. That made me and my brother laugh too, and I watched in disgust as the man continued to pick his nose, haha. Well, that concludes my weird creeper story.

My dad drove us all the way to the famous Pike Place Market, a really cool public market which sells quirky, yet overly expensive things.  They have beautiful flowers for sale there and I guess those were pretty cheap, the price situated at a steady ten to twenty dollars.  They were extremely nice, but unfortunately we couldn't buy one due to border rules and regulations.  We also bought some vegetable chips, and they were like nine dollars, but definitely worth it, because it was so yummy and had a nice crunch to it.  Anyways, I saw the first Starbucks, but there was line up, so I didn't go in.  I wouldn't risk my life to go in there :P.

        


Due to Michelle's sister who is also an expert coffee person, we went to a coffee shop called Seattle Coffee Works near Pike Place.  I had a hot chocolate, but eh i still prefer Starbucks over that.  We had a mini lunch at Piroshky Piroshky Bakery, a Russian place which also has long lineups.  Fortunately, I waited only a little bit and ordered the Smoked Mozzarella, Mushroom and Broccoli.  So did my brother, but my dad had a cabbage and onion piroshky.  Their breads were straight out from the oven, so there is limited choices.  Mine's was piping hot, and the cheese was so good, since it was melted.  I honestly think it was kind of expensive for a moderately-sized bread at around six dollars, but again totally worth it!

            

We went to Alderwood Mall later that day.  OMG THIS WAS PRETTY MUCH THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!  I'll tell you the details later; I'll make a special section for it in bold.  Anyways, before that, we got some good deals on some clothes and then my dad and the rest of the family went to the Apple Store to look for a sturdy case for my mom's new iPhone 6.

I was just casually walking, checking up on my parents to see what kind of stuff they were looking at.  AND THEN I saw her.  I saw one of my most favourite daily vloggers on Youtube:  ItsJudysTime.  Well, actually the main channel I watch is ItsJudysLife, which has close to a million subscribers.  At first, I was too nervous to do anything.  My parents made me go up to her.  I saw her babies and her husband.  Her toddler, Julianna, was so much smaller in person.  the twins, Miya and Kiera, were also definitely too cute.  I took a photo with them, yahahaha.  I was even in their video on Youtube!  - feeling happy.  :)

Okay, enough of the fangirling stuff.  Alderwood Mall is actually one of my favourite malls, because it has all my favourite stores, such as Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, Aeropostle, and other stores. I bought a decent amount of  things, and I was pretty happy with my purchases.  I bought a sweatshirt, skater skirt, floral tank top, a cat t-shirt and some other things.

Cool Candy Store

We stayed at Embassy Suites and we stuffed ourselves for the complimentary evening reception with food and drinks.  We were so full that we couldn't take on dinner.  I felt sad for the manager though, because he was pretty much the only one doing the work, other than the bartender.  My mom doesn't let me drink pop that often, so I tried to drink as much as possible.  I never felt so good.  Of course, to even it up I ate a lot of veggies with unhealthy ranch dip.
I knew that I couldn't just rely on veggies and nachos, so near nine o'clock we went to eat at the restaurant in the hotel.  I had the kids meal, but it was bigger than a regular ole kids meal, so I was full.  I ordered  a red sauce pasta with garlic bread, but I didn't like the warm milk I ordered because it was microwaved, giving off a slight burnt smell.

It was a good day, I'll tell you about the day after in the next blog!
PS Sorry for the long blog!

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B33

December 29th,  2014

Hey dudsons,

Sorry I couldn't post this earlier because I had to sleep early due to the next day, I went to the US the day after that.

I vaguely remember what happened that day, but I do remember that we hustling to pack our luggage and supplies needed for the trip.

I also remember that my family and I went to a Chinese restaurant ( I believe it is called Empire Seafood Restaurant) for my cousin's birthday.  The food was pretty good, but I really wished that we would order the seafood hot and sour soup I tried last time, because it was so good!  We had lobster, chicken, shark fin, squabs, and also other food.  In the end, we had a mango mousse cake and baked tapioca for dessert.  Of course, we had the Chinese version of this cake, because no offense, but the western version is too sweet.

The Insanely Yummy Cake

Well, that's all I remember for that day.  :/

Here's a cute little video:

-- Cyndi Forrest